Seymour Mayne
Seymour Mayne (born May 18, 1944) is a Canadian poet and literary translator. Life Mayne was born in Montreal, Quebec. He earned a B.A. with honors in 1965 from McGill University, and an M.A. in 1966 and Ph.D. in 1972 from the University of British Columbia. His first collection of poetry, Tiptoeing on the Mount, was published in 1965, as part of Louis Dudek's McGill Poetry Series. Mayne has taught Canadian literature at the University of Ottawa since 1973; he is professor of Canadian literature, creative writing, and Canadian studies, and also directs the Vered Jewish Canadian Studies Program whose establishment he oversaw in 2006. He is the Vered Program’s coordinator and most ardent promoter. He has also taught at the University of British Columbia, Concordia University in Montreal, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the University of La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain. He has written, translated, or edited over 70 published works, including poetry, anthologies, and critical texts. He was a co-founder of Very Stone House, a small press dedicated to Canadian poetry, in 1965 with fellow poets Patrick Lane and bill bissett.Lane, Patrick, ABC Bookworld, B.C. Bookworld. Web, May, 3, 2017. His short stories have appeared in a variety of literary journals and anthologies. The Old Blue Couch: Canadian stories = Viejo Sofá Azul: Cuentos canadienses, a selection of his short fiction in Spanish translation, was published in Argentina in 2004. His literary works continue to receive much critical and scholarly attention internationally. His writings have been translated into many languages, including French, German, Hebrew, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. 6 collections of his poetry have been rendered into Hebrew, including a major volume of his selected poems, Fly Off into the Strongest Light letoch haor hachi chazak: Mevchar shirim (2009). As a scholar and editor, he has edited many anthologies and critical texts in Canadian literature, including Essential Words: An Anthology of Jewish Canadian Poetry, a comprehensive and pioneer work in the field which includes writing by such key figures as A.M. Klein, Miriam Waddington, and Phyllis Gotlieb. He has also co-edited the award-winning anthologies, Jerusalem: An Anthology of Jewish Canadian Poetry and A Rich Garland: Poems for A.M. Klein. Recent collections and anthologies he co-edited include Foreplay: An Anthology of Word Sonnets and the bilingual Pluriel: Une anthologie, des voix/An Anthology of Diverse Voices. He published a critical analysis of poet Irving Layton's work in 1978. A longtime resident of Canada’s capital, Ottawa, Mayne has helped sustain the city's literary and artistic community over the past 3½ decades. He has given hundreds of lectures and readings at universities and other institutions across Canada, the United States, and abroad. His dedication to learning and writing has also materialized in the promotion of creative writing within the Department of English at the University of Ottawa. He has supervised the publication of a series of more than twenty anthologies drawing on the work of student writers. In his years as an educator, Mayne has acted as a mentor to dozens of aspiring writers. Recognition A 4-time winner of the Canadian Jewish Book Award], Mayne is also a recipient of the J.I. Segal Prize and the ALTA (American Literary Translators Association) Poetry Translation Award for his renditions from Yiddish. He also received the Louis Rosenberg Canadian Jewish Studies Distinguished Service Award given to an individual who has made significant contributions to Canadian Jewish Studies in one or more fields. Mayne has received numerous awards for his academic work, including The Capital Educator’s Award (2003), an initiative of the Ottawa Center for Research and Innovation awarded to educators who have made a difference in the lives of their students by acting as role models, instilling confidence and nurturing leadership; The Excellence in Education Prize (2005), and lastly he was named Professor of the Year in the Faculty of Arts (2010). His poetry was anthologized in the Penguin Book of Canadian Verse. Publications Poetry *''The Monocycle the Moon''. Montreal: Jewish Public Library, 1964. *''Tiptoeing on the Mount.'' Montreal: McGill University (McGill Poetry Series), 1965; Montreal: Catapult, 1965. *''From the Portals of Mouseholes''. Vancouver: Very Stone House, 1966. *''Ticklish Ticlorice''. Vancouver: Very Stone House, 1969. *''Earseed''. Vancouver: Very Stone House, 1969. *''anewd''. Vancouver: Very Stone House, 1969. *''Mutetations''. Vancouver: Very Stone House, 1969. *''manimals''. Vancouver: Very Stone House, 1969. *''The Gigole Teaspoon''. Vancouver: Very Stone House, 1969. *''Mouth''. Kingston, ON: Quarry Press, 1970. *''Face''. Burnaby, BC: Blackfish, 1971. *''Cutting the Keys''. University of Ottawa writing workshop, 1974.Search results=Seymour Mayne, Abe Books Inc., Web, June 15, 2012. *''For Stems of Light''. Ottaws: Valley Editions, 1974. *''Name''. Erin, ON: Press Porcepic, 1975; Oakville, ON: Mosaic Editions, 1976. *''Diasporas''. Oakville, ON: Mosaic, 1977. *''Begging''. Ottaws: Valley Editions, 1977. *''The Impossible Promised Land: Poems new and selected''. Oakville, ON: Mosaic Press, 1981. ISBN 978-0-88962139-8 *''Children of Abel''. Oakville, ON: Mosaic, 1985; New York: Mosaic, 1986. ISBN 978-0-88962333-0 *''Crazy Leonithas: Poem'' (with Sharon Katz). Ottawa: Valley Editions, 1985. *''Diversions''. Ottawa: Noovo Masheen, 1987. *''Two Poems''. Ottawa: privately published, 1989. *''Killing Time''. Oakville, ON: Mosaic, 1992. ISBN 978-0-88962494-8 *''The Song of Moses, and other poems''. Ottawa: Concertina/InterAccess Technology Corp. and London: The Menard Press, 1995. *''Dragon Trees''. Ottawa: Friday Circle, 1997. *''Carbon Filter: Poems in dedication''. Toronto & New York: Mosaic Press, 1999. *''Light Industry: Humourous and satirical poems''. Oakville, ON / Niagara Falls, NY: Mosaic, 2000. *''Hail: Word sonnets''. Ottawa: Sandalfon & Metatron, 2002. *''Cordoba: Two poems''. Ottawa: privately published, 2002. *''Cinquefoil'' (co-author). Oakville, ON / Niagara Falls, NY: Mosaic Press, 2003. *''Ricochet: Word sonnets''. Oakville, ON / Niagara Falls, NY: Mosaic Press, 2004. *''September Rain.'' Oakville, ON / Niagara Falls, NY: Mosaic Press, 2005. *''Overheard: Word sonnets''. Ottawa: Dusty Owl Press, 2005. *''Hail: Word sonnets = Granizo: Sonetos de una palabra'' (with Spanish translation by María Laura Spoturno, et al). La Plata, Argentina: Universidad Nacional de La Plata, 2006. *''A Dream of Birds: Word sonnets'' (with B. Glen Rotchin). Montreal: Allied Widget, 2007. *''Ricochet: Word sonnets = Sonnets d'un mot (with French translation by Sabine Huynh). Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2011. Dhoty fiction *''The Old Blue Couch, and other stories. Toronto: Ronald P. Frye, 2012. Translated *Melech Ravich, Night Prayer, and other poems. Oakville, ON: Mosaic, 1993. Edited *''40 Women Poets of Canada'' (edited by Dorothy Livesay & Seymour Mayne). Montreal: Ingluvin, 1971. *Irving Layton, Engagements: Prose. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972. *Irving Layton, Uncollected Poems, 1936-1959. Oakville, ON: Mosaic, 1976. *Irving Layton, The Poet and His Critics. Toronto: McGraw Hill-Ryerson, 1978. ISBN 978-0-07082711-0 *''Essential Words: An anthology of Jewish Canadian poetry''. Ottawa: Oberon Press, 1985. ISBN 978-0-88750576-8 *''At the Edge: Canadian literature and culture at century's end'' (edited by Richard E. Sherwin, Seymour Mayne, & Ruth Amossi). Magnes Press / Hebrew University, 1995. ISBN 978-9-65223882-5 *''Jerusalem: An Anthology of Jewish Canadian Poetry'' (edited by Seymour Mayne & Glen Rotchin). Montreal: Véhicule Press, 1996. *A.M. Klein, Selected Poems (edited by Seymour Mayne, Zailig Pollock, & Usher Caplan). Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997. *''A Rich Garland: Poems for A.M. Klein'' (edited with B. Glen Rotchin). Montreal: Véhicule Press, 1999. *''Foreplay: An anthology of word sonnets'' (edited with Christal Steck). Ottawa: Friday Circle, 2004, electronic edition. *Marya Fiamengo, Visible Living: Poems selected and new (edited by Seymour Mayne, Russell Thornton, & Janice Fiamengo). Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 2006. *''Pluriel: Une anthologie, des voix = An Anthology of Diverse Voices'' (edited with Christiane Melançon & Marc Charron). Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2008. *"Jewish Canadian Poetry: A double issue" (guest editor), Shirim: A Jewish poetry Journal. XXIX:II (2011) & XXX:I (2012).Seymour Mayne, Department of English, Faculty of Arts, University of Ottawa, UOttawa.ca, Web, June 15 2012. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Seymour Mayne, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, May 3, 2017. See also *Canadian Jewish poets *List of Canadian poets References Notes External links ;Books *Seymour Mayne at Amazon.com ;About *Seymour Mayne at the Poetry Foundation *Seymour Mayne at the University of Ottawa *Profile: Poet Seymour Mayne at BillGladstone.ca *[http://www.thebullcalfreview.ca/seymourmayne.htm Review of The Old Blue Couch, and other stories] at The Bull Calf *[http://poetryreviews.ca/reviews/ricochet-by-seymour-mayne/ Review of Ricochet] at PoetryReviews.ca. Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian poets Category:Jewish poets Category:Canadian translators Category:Jewish Canadian writers Category:Writers from Ottawa Category:20th-century poets Category:21st-century poets Category:Canadian academics Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:University of Ottawa faculty Category:Canadian Jewish poets